As a student with low vision that has taken over 60 online and hybrid classes across multiple platforms, I often reach out to instructors before the first day of class to share my approved disability accommodations and explain what I will need from them in order to access course content. On several occasions, I have had instructors share that they are excited to have me in their class, but they also have no idea how accessible their class materials are for someone with low vision and ask me to let them know if they need to fix anything.
For instructors or professors that have a visually impaired student or a student with low vision in their class, it can be overwhelming to figure out how to make online learning accessible for visually impaired students or figure out what to prioritize when making course content accessible. While there are many institutions that share accessibility guidance, I have found that the following strategies and access adaptations can go a long way in supporting students with visual impairments in the online or hybrid classroom.
Here is a quick start guide on how to make online learning accessible for visually impaired students, written by a student with low vision who has taken dozens of online classes and is now co-teaching an online class.
Organize course content in a logical way
When organizing online content and assignments, many of my professors use modules or similar structures so that all of the readings, assignments, quizzes, and links to discussion board posts for a given week(s) are in a single location, so students don’t have to go on a scavenger hunt trying to find where items are located. While some instructors will create separate tabs or pages for specific types of content (e.g., quizzes, discussion boards, assignments), the items that are due for each week are also linked within the module for easy access. This structure is especially helpful for students with visual impairments, as all of the information is available in a consistent location.
In one of my classes, I got zeroes on multiple quizzes because they were not linked in the module, and the hyperlink to the quizzes section in the course sidebar was cut off by browser zoom, rendering the content invisible to me. I found out when my professor emailed me, as they had noticed I was completing all of my other assignments well in advance and earning high grades, so they thought it was odd I was skipping the quizzes. Having everything linked in the module and reducing the amount of text/options in the sidebar made it much easier for me to access all of the course content and avoid missing assignments.
Related links
- How I Use Canvas With Low Vision
- How I Use Moodle With Low Vision
- How I Use Blackboard With Low Vision
- Ten Questions To Ask When Choosing A Virtual Class
Structure pages and documents with headings
Headings are used in digital content to organize and structure information in a hierarchal way, indicating the importance and relationship of the content that follows. Heading levels are not only used for readability and making content easier to understand cognitively, but they also convey important accessibility information for assistive technologies like screen readers that rely on heading structures to navigate a page or locate content. Without headings, students with visual impairments will have much more difficulty navigating content.
Headings include short text phrases that are used to label sections or sub-sections of a webpage or document, and include six levels ranging from H1 to H6. Underneath each heading, body text is used. Many online text editors and word processing applications offer built-in heading levels. When using markdown editors, another option is to use a # symbol and space in front of a heading, with the number of #s corresponding to the heading level (e.g., ## would be used for heading level 2)
Here is an example of how heading levels are used for documents and online content:
- H1: Represents the main title of the page or content. There should only be one H1 heading on a page.
- H2: Indicates main sections or chapters. Multiple H2 headings can be used, each introducing a new topic under H1.
- H3: Sub-heading for H2 sections, providing further detail on a topic. H3 headings can introduce subsections or other key concepts.
- H4: Sub-heading for H3 sections, often used to highlight specific points of examples. Helpful for clarifying complex topics.
- H5: Sub-heading for H4 sections, used for even more specific details. Not frequently used.
- H6: Sub-heading for H5 sections, used to provide additional notes or supporting details. Rarely used.
In online classes, headings can be used to structure readings, assignments, course pages, or other text-heavy content so that students can access the information they need. Here is how I used headings to structure a handout for one of my classes:
- H1: Document title.
- Body text underneath with course name and date
- H2: Directions
- Body text with assignment instructions
- H2: Lab station names
- Body text with instructions for exploring each lab station. Each lab station name had its own H2.
- H3: Questions
- Under each H2 heading with the lab station name, there was a H3 heading labeled “Questions” for each section. Questions were formatted as body text in a numbered list underneath H3.
- H4: Further reading
- Hyperlinks to related resources for each lab station topic, listed after questions. This could also be structured as H3, but in this particular assignment, the further reading was connected to the questions
In this blog post, H1 is used for the title of the post, H2 is used for the sections, and H3 is used for sub-sections and related links. H3 headings always come after H2 headings.
Related links
- My Most-Used Keyboard Shortcuts For Academic Writing
- How I Optimize My Website For Cognitive Accessibility
- My Favorite Free Fonts For Print Disabilities
Make sure images have alt text or descriptive captions
Alternative text (alt text) and image descriptions are text-based descriptions of visual details in an image written primarily for people who are visually impaired (inclusive of blind, low vision, and neurological visual impairment). If an image fails to load on a website, alt text will be displayed in its place, and alt text is also used for search engine optimization and image search tools.
The primary goal of alt text and image descriptions should be to answer the following questions:
- What is in the image?
- Why is this relevant?
- What would someone need to know about this image in order to understand it?
For images included in lecture slides or as part of assignments/course content, it is critical that instructors review alt text to ensure that it includes information that is relevant to the context in which it is being shared. AI-generated alt text may include irrelevant details that do not apply to the context in which the image is being shared, or not provide enough information for a student to interpret the image effectively. Adding high-quality alt text is a quick way to improve accessibility for virtual learning materials and make online learning accessible for visually impaired students.
To share a real-world example, I once encountered alt text for an image that I could not see that simply said “graph.” This did not provide me with the information I needed to answer a question on an exam, which revolved around being able to access the values in the chart shown. Needless to say, I got the question wrong!
Related links
- How To Write Alt Text For Educational Content
- Purposes of Media Descriptions for Visual Impairment
- How To Write Alt Text and Image Descriptions for the Visually Impaired
Use ordered and unordered lists to format content
Ordered lists (numbered lists) and unordered lists (bulleted lists) are used by screen readers and other types of assistive technology to inform users about how information is organized and improve readability through the use of consistent formatting. This is especially important when numbering questions, as lists that are not correctly formatted can lead to users missing information.
How to use ordered lists
To add ordered lists in word processing applications or online text editors that support markdown, add line items with numbers followed by periods, and using the enter key between lines. Indented lines can be created by pressing tab. For example:
- Open this website: Veroniiiica | Veronica With Four Eyes
- Choose two post categories to explore and write their names below
- Category 1:
- Category 2:
- Read one post from each category.
- Answer the following questions
- What is an example of assistive technology that may be used by someone with low vision?
- What is something new you have learned from reading this post?
How to use unordered lists
For unordered lists, add dashes (-), asterisks (*), or plus signs (+) in front of line items, followed by a space. Indent one or more items with the tab key to create a nested list. I used the asterisk to create the following list of assignments that are due for a hypothetical module:
- Module 4 reading quiz
- Learning framework activity #3
- Discussion post
- Post your reply by 2/4
- Respond to another student by 2/11
- Literature review draft
I use unordered lists frequently to help with breaking up large amounts of text, and find them especially useful for module checklists or discussion boards.
Related links
- How I Keep Track of Assignments With Low Vision
- Low Vision Assistive Technology For Discussion Board Posts
- How I Receive Accessible Quizzes and Tests in the Classroom
Provide copies of slides and lecture content
When watching recorded video lectures or following along during synchronous class sessions, it can be challenging to increase the font size of lecture slides in a video or access other multimedia content like images, SmartArt, charts, or other visual information. Providing a separate copy of lecture slides, documents, or other content that is being shared enables students to follow along on their own devices and enable display customizations like larger text sizes, inverted colors, or increased spacing.
Many of my professors include transcripts alongside recorded videos, which is helpful for notetaking or for students with hearing loss and/or auditory processing disorders. Some professors would make copies of slides and transcripts available to all students, while others would make them available only to students with approved disability accommodations.
Related links
- How I Access PowerPoints with Microsoft Sway
- How To Create Accessible PowerPoints
- Recording Video Lectures For Visually Impaired Students
- Implementing Shared Folders For Online Classes
Avoid PDFs as much as possible
When assigning course readings or sharing instructions for assignments, use responsive file formats like HTML, EPUB, or Word documents as often as possible, as these are generally easier to enlarge/magnify or access with a screen reader compared to PDFs. While accessible PDFs do exist (e.g., tagged PDFs), the majority of PDFs are inaccessible to people with visual impairments due to their fixed layout that can make it challenging to read text. Many academic databases offer options for accessing content in HTML or EPUB formats, so professors can share links to articles that provide options for accessing content in both fixed and responsive layouts.
There are tools that can be used to convert PDFs to another file format, such as Anthology Ally and Paper2HTML, and students can also request alternative formats (with sufficient advance notice) of course readings from Disability Services or another accessibility office. That said, automated tools may not be 100% accurate, especially when it comes to accessing images or charts.
Related links
- File Formats For Low Vision and Print Disabilities
- How I Read Research Sources With Assistive Technology
- Ten Questions To Ask When Buying Digital Textbooks
Use descriptive hyperlinks and keep them organized
Instead of using generic phrases like “click here” or “reading” that do not provide information about a website, use descriptive hyperlinks that include the title of the page, name of the website, or that give the user an idea of what they are opening. Some web browsers like Microsoft Edge can automatically insert descriptive hyperlinks for content, while others require users to manually enter link text.
Related links
- Customize Microsoft Edge Accessibility For Low Vision
- Tips For Taking Online Classes As An On-Campus Student
If available, use accessibility checker or Ally
Many learning management systems now offer tools like Anthology Ally or other built-in accessibility checkers that can provide automated feedback on common accessibility issues like heading structures, ordered/unordered lists, or identifying images that are missing alt text. This can be helpful for checking individual pages or assignments, though the accessibility checkers do not correct issues automatically— instructors will still need to manually fix or verify that content is accessible before sharing.
Related links
More tips to make online learning accessible for visually impaired students
- Digital textbooks are not automatically accessible— provide information about textbooks in advance so students can request alternative formats if needed. I share more about this in How To Request Accessible Textbooks In College
- Preparing to take online classes as a visually impaired student? I share examples of tech skills to practice in Must-Have Tech Skills For Online Classes
- Even though I may not see my professors face-to-face, I still give them a copy of my Disability Services accommodation letter so that they are aware of my accessibility needs. I talk about this more in How To Explain Disability Accommodations To Professors and How I Talk To Professors About Photosensitivity
- Want more posts related to online learning? Browse Virtual Education archives | Veronica With Four Eyes
Published April 14, 2020. Updated February 2026